This invention relates to cooling and cooking devices, and deals more particularly with a device which is suitable for both freezing and cooking by means of superheated system.
It has been known for some time that potatoes can be pressure-cooked to the required soft consistency by means of a potato steamer (German Patent No. PS 85 468); the loading compartment of this steamer, into which the potatoes are placed, is fitted with a horizontal pipe with lateral branchings which are connected to downward directed steam-jet pipes. On the one hand, this conventional potato steamer is only suitable for pressure-cooking potatoes; on the other hand, it would be neither suitable nor convenient enough to be utilized in households, snack bars, fast-food establishments and the like.
Another conventional process is to keep food frozen in freezers or the like and then, prior to their consumption, to quick-heat them by admitting dry steam (German Patent No. PS 1 271 338). The conventional device used for this purpose is utilized primarily in restaurants for the quick-cooking of frozen vegetables and the like. This device is hardly suitable for use in households or snack bars or fast-food establishments preparing an array of different foods (soups, sauces, vegetables and generally any pre-cooked dishes), because it is too unwieldy and ill equipped for the simultaneous heating of several different food items. Furthermore, it is bothersome to have to get the food items from a frozen food chest or deep freeze room in each instance and carry them to the location where they are to be heated and then, later on, to take those items back to the freezer or deep-freeze room which, perhaps, were not heated because there was no call for them.